Metro Area Bicycle Discussion

[almighty_tuna]

Hey, anyone else ride bicycles around here?

[CountOfMC]

I thought riding bikes was for kids.

[Coyote]

Well - I for one appreciate the trails we have here in Omaha and use them.

[almighty_tuna]

I thought riding bikes was for kids.

I was thinking more in the realm of 30-40+ miles/ride

[mchine73]

Oh yeah I've been known to bust out the old 10 speed to get back and forth to school. Getting out of the car and seeing the city from the street is so much better. It's funny how isolated you are in a car without even knowing it.

[CountOfMC]

I thought riding bikes was for kids.

I was thinking more in the realm of 30-40+ miles/ride

I'm sure you know about the Wabash trail right? It'll take you from Council Bluffs to the northwest tip of Missouri. Nearly 60 miles each way.

[almighty_tuna]

I thought riding bikes was for kids.

I was thinking more in the realm of 30-40+ miles/ride

I'm sure you know about the Wabash trail right? It'll take you from Council Bluffs to the northwest tip of Missouri. Nearly 60 miles each way.

I sure do, but don't generally have the free-time for that long of a ride. I'd like to get over there someday though.

[eomaha]

My wife and I jump onto the West Papio Trail... go south to and around Zorinsky Lake and back home. It's good for a little more than 20 miles.

As I've said before... I am really anxious to see the trail completed all the way to Papillion. The reason being... it is literally a straight shot from my house in the 168th and West Center area... to my work which is immediately across the street from the YMCA in Papillion (ie grab a quick shower before going into work).

[DTO Luv]

If you do ride a back please, DON'T RIDE IN THE STREET!! That's one thing that really upsets me off is when there is a perfectly good sidewalk or trail 3 feet away and people are in the street. One guy did this on Abbott Dr. and was holding all of these people up. I put the engine in neutral and floored it and the guy took off for the side walk and fell over. Then he flipped me off. I have seen this more than once and it irritates me to death. So please use these lovely trails and not the streets.

[omahahawk]

Bikes rule. Mainly I like to hit the dirt trails with my mountain bike but also the paved ones as well. Might have to invest in a decent roadie myself some time in the future when $ permits.

[omahahawk]

the best bike site ever.

http://www.bikeforums.net/

[FatGuy]

DTO LUV - Bikers have just as much right to the lane as a car. Abbott Drive is one of our prettiest streets and is a nice ride. Currently the trail is not complete, so it is a hassle to deal with riding through dirt, grass, or whatever. Regardless, Omaha seems very unfriendly to bikers. I am not sure why.

I am surprised that you of all people are unaccepting of bikers in the street. Biking is a rather urban form of transportation. I know other big cities have bike lanes which coexist with regular cars much better than here.

[icejammer]

I thought riding bikes was for kids.

I was thinking more in the realm of 30-40+ miles/ride

I'm sure you know about the Wabash trail right? It'll take you from Council Bluffs to the northwest tip of Missouri. Nearly 60 miles each way.

I sure do, but don't generally have the free-time for that long of a ride. I'd like to get over there someday though.

Do make an effort to ride the Wabash Trace, it's well worth it. If you're looking for a ~40-mile ride, do the trail from the trailhead to Malvern and back. Just don't ride right after a rain - too many idiots do this and rut the bejeezus out of things in places.

And DTO, shame on you! Bikes are entitled to the road as much as a car (except when it comes to controlled-access roads).

[omahahawk]

I try to avoid traffic like the plague. Firstly, I hate the exhaust. Secondly, too many people out there who should not have a drivers license.

[DTO Luv]

Uhh, I think streets are for cars not bikes. There may be a few places where you need to go in the street (no sidewalkd, muddy) but you shouldn't be in the street. It's a danger to you and the people in cars.

[omahastylee459]

i like using the keystone trail starting up on fort street, then biking all the way down towards offut and back. Anyone ever do the corporate cup bike race? I did it last summer, made it past half way of the 45 mile race and blew a tire beyond repair, had to be picked up in Fort Calhoun

[almighty_tuna]

i like using the keystone trail starting up on fort street, then biking all the way down towards offut and back. Anyone ever do the corporate cup bike race? I did it last summer, made it past half way of the 45 mile race and blew a tire beyond repair, had to be picked up in Fort Calhoun

Haven't heard of the Corporate Cup bike race! I usually do the MS150. Last year one of our riders had 3 flats in one day. The only putz who didn't slime his tires

[icejammer]

Where do y'all get these flats? I want to stay away from you! I've been riding around here for 15 years and never blown a tire.

The Corporate Cycling Challenge is usually 4-5 weeks ahead of Corporate Cup. This is their home page (I think): Corporate Cycling Challenge 2004

[edsas]

I thought bike riding on sidewalks was illegal. A person might step out of a shop and get run over.

[DTO Luv]

So riding in the street ( where there's a much bigger chance of someone getting hit) is less illegal? I know you can't ride bikes or skateboard in the OM, but I'm talking about people in regular neighborhoods.

[edsas]

In Grand Island, Lincoln and Los Angeles, bikes are viewed as vehicles when ridden in business districts. In residential areas they are okay to ride on sidewalks. I figured Omaha would be the same.

And no, there shouldn't be people in the street to run over. What are you talking about? Cyclists are supposed to ride with the flow of traffic, towards the shoulder, unless they are making a left turn. How is this obtrusive?

[almighty_tuna]

Where do y'all get these flats? I want to stay away from you! I've been riding around here for 15 years and never blown a tire.

This wasn't around here. Last year's route was from Wahoo to in and around Seward. One was as we were warming up, two was on hwy 6 south of I-80 & Seward, three was just outside of Seward. Day two, from Seward roundabout to Wahoo he didn't get any flats because we made him slime up before he could ride. hehe...It pays to slime those tires!

[FatGuy]

I am guessing DTO Luv has never ridden a road/mountain/hybrid bike in the city. At times, a biker will hit speeds of 30 mph (to be conservative), some cyclists will hit 40 or 50. Regardless, traveling at this pace going down a sidewalk is dangerous to other pedestrians and the cyclist. Roads on the other hand are much smoother and have far fewer cracks and bumps.

In addition, at the intersection of most streets, curbs exists. Try traversing over these at a fast rate with skinny tires.

Omaha drivers should be more patient than what they are. Until you are on a bike, you don't understand how impatient drivers can be. Not only would I have given DTO Luv the finger but would have tried to catch him at the stop light ahead. At that point I would have upset on his windshield, um, or something.

[omahastylee459]

Where do y'all get these flats? I want to stay away from you! I've been riding around here for 15 years and never blown a tire.

Going 40mph down the shoulder of a highway for the corporate cycling challenge. I must have hit a sharp rock along the way.

[DTO Luv]

Omaha drivers should be more patient than what they are. Until you are on a bike, you don't understand how impatient drivers can be. Not only would I have given DTO Luv the finger but would have tried to catch him at the stop light ahead. At that point I would have upset on his windshield, um, or something.

And you would have got your |expletive| beat.

Even if you are going fast on a bike your get messed up more hitting a car than another person.

[icejammer]

So riding in the street ( where there's a much bigger chance of someone getting hit) is less illegal?

Riding in the street is not illegal (except where designated) my friend, so I would kindly ask you to reconsider your attitude towards those of us who choose to ride a bike for pleasure or to reduce greenhouse emissions. Thanks!

[Big E]

I think it's important to note that while riding a bike in the street is not illegal (it's actually illegal to ride on the sidewalks in some places), impeding traffic is, in fact, illegal - regardless of vehicle. It's not the fact that someone is on a bike that makes it illegal. It's the fact that they are going 8 in a 45.

If you can keep up, go for it. If you can't, don't.

-Big E

[West2Omaha]

Does anyone know of a website that has map(s) of the inter-connecting bike trails throughout the metro?

[FatGuy]

http://www.ci.omaha.ne.us/parks/trails/trailmain.htm

[sokkerdewd]

Something I heard a while back (suppose this is more a rumor than anything) was about the feasibility of adding bike-lanes around here. Does anyone else know more about this? Maybe this has something to do with the ActivateOmaha initiatives... see http://www.activateomaha.org for more detail. They're promoting pedestrian-friendly development & new urbanism concepts.

[omahastylee459]

they are calling for some bike lanes in the north downtown redevelopment plans

[nativeomahan]

I am vacationing right now in North Carolina, and it seems many of the roadways have dedicated bike lanes. I realize that Omaha is hilly, but it would be nice if all major and collector streets could be mandated to have hiking/ biking lanes built along the side of the roadway. This is also done throughout Montreal. If you want to encourage bike ridership you need to provide safe means of travel for riders, and also trails that parrallel roadways near where people live and work and shop.

[Swift]

We have those here, they're called sidewalks. Those places have bike lanes because there isn't enough room on the sidewalks for bikes and walkers , but as we all know, walkers are a rare breed here, so a bike lane would just be redundant.

[FatGuy]

A bike lane and a sidewalk are not the same. I would not be caught dead walking or runnning on a bike lane or riding a bike on a populated sidewalk. Glad to hear that north downtown is considering implementing them into the plans.

[omahahawk]

Tuna, do you really recomend sliming your tires? I've heard it adds too much weight and makes too big of a mess to be worth it.

[Big E]

Question on the legality of sidewalks and bike lanes:

I was always under the impression that riding your bike on a pedestrian sidewalk was illegal? Flip side, I was under the impression that jogging/walking in the street (unless crossing it, and then only in designated areas like a crosswalk) was illegal as well?

Did I just pull this out of thin air? Os it dependent on local laws?

-Big E

[sokkerdewd]

Question on the legality of sidewalks and bike lanes:

I was always under the impression that riding your bike on a pedestrian sidewalk was illegal? Flip side, I was under the impression that jogging/walking in the street (unless crossing it, and then only in designated areas like a crosswalk) was illegal as well?

Did I just pull this out of thin air? Os it dependent on local laws?

-Big E

Local laws as far as I know...

I'm not sure about Omaha's laws regarding this...but back in other places, I know this to be the case.

[omahastylee459]

Anyone make it down this morning?? I rode for Prairie Life Center and it was a great morning. Apparently this was their largest crowd ever with around 2,500 cyclists. We started at 9th and Farnam and then hopped on Capital to 12th St. 12th took us through a warehouse area I had never seen before, and then through Levi Carter Park and then up to I-680. From there you either split into the 45 mile course that goes to fort calhoun, or the 26 mile course (which is what I did) that turns around at Forest Lawn. The weather was PERFECT, and it was great to see so many people downtown and using transportation other than their cars.